The conventional radio-controlled toy is generally operative to advance, reverse or turn the toy to the left or to the right, as desired, and for that purpose, the transmitter incorporates a contact system having an externally controllable operation lever as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1A is a vertical section through the line 1A--1A, in FIG. 1, for a better appreciation of the construction of the conventional contact system.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A the conventional contact system is comprised of a movable contact member 12 and a fixed contact member 16 (see FIG. 2), the latter being formed in a part of the printed circuit board 14 which includes the control circuit for controlled movement of the toy, the movable contact member 12 and the printed circuit board (and the fixed contacts 16 thereof) being mounted on a casing 10 of the transmitter as shown in FIG. 1A. The movable contact member 12 comprises a slider 20 for shifting to the left and the right, along a pair of guide members 18, 18, a pair of contacts 22a, 22b forming part of the slider 20. The slider 20 is associated with an oscillator 26 having a working lever 24, the slider being movable leftward and rightward from a neutral position by the working lever, whose rotational movement is translated into linear motion by the rod 28 which in a conventional way fits in a recess provided by the slider 20 for imparting leftward and rightward linear motion to the slider on rotative movement of lever 24 in much the same manner as the movable contact member 42 is moved by engaging projection 52, as hereinafter more fully described with respect to the application embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
As previously noted, the fixed contact member 16 is printed in the printed circuit board 14 so as to control printed circuits in the board in accordance with movements of the movable contacts 22a, 22b relative to the fixed contact members 16.
FIG. 2 shows an operational relationship between the movable contacts (22a, 22b) and each pair of fixed contacts (C.sub.10 with C.sub.11, C.sub.20 with C.sub.21 and C.sub.30 with C.sub.31) of the fixed contact unit 16 shown in FIG. 2. Namely contact 22a may selectively be engaged with contact(s) C.sub.10 and C.sub.20, with C.sub.20 alone (neutral position) or with C.sub.20 and C.sub.30, while the movable contact 22b may selectively be engaged with contact(s) C.sub.11 and C.sub.21, with C.sub.21 alone (neutral position) or with C.sub.21 and C.sub.31.
In the contact system of the type described, the printed circuit board 14 is arranged above the slider 20 as shown in FIG. 1A so that the movable contact member 12 comes into contact with the fixed contact member 16 formed in the circuit board. According to such a conventional contact system, however, an insulation masking is partially removed from the printed circuitry so that contamination of and damage is likely to result to the fixed contacts in the printed circuit board. To prevent such possible contamination and damage especially when soldering circuit components on the printed circuit board, the fixed contact member 16 requires special protective and finishing treatment, entailing considerable labor and manufacturing operations.
There is no contact system for a transmitter for radio-controlled toys of which the inventor is aware, which provides a compact contact arrangement having an advantageous association of a fixed contact unit with a movable contact unit and a printed circuit board provided with a fixed contact plate operatively associated with the movable contact in such manner as to protect the contact system of the invention from the kind of contamination and damage referred to.